Small Business Tips

Here are three common disabling beliefs which prevent people from starting small businesses because of the fear of failure.

Many think they are not well enough educated, come from a poor background which holds them back, or think they need loads of money to get started in a new small business venture.

Let me show you why I think these are not true.

Lack Of Education

Many believe you need a good education to make a lot of money or to start up successful small businesses.

Far from being held back by poor education, it may actually be an advantage. Just as blind people often have much better hearing, people who have less education often compensate in other ways.

They may communicate more effectively to a wider population, they often exhibit greater dexterity and ability working with a wide range of materials and have great ability to judge risk and reward.

A good education can even be shown to be a disadvantage to entrepreneurship.

It is normal for well-educated people to find it easy to get a job. This means they are making money for someone else, in exchange for a smaller proportion of money back. (If employers didn’t make more money from their workers than they paid them, then they couldn’t continue to employ them.)

Having had a good job for a while, to give it up on a small business enterprise usually means risking losing that job, and the money that comes in with it, which may be needed to start the new venture. This brings us to another myth-

Lack Of Capital

Many believe you can’t start a new moneymaking venture without a lot of money to get started. I don’t believe this!

The old saying “If you ain’t got nothing you ain’t got nothing to lose” really is true.

If you have a lot to lose by risking a new small business venture, you may be so cautious of failure that you fail to succeed.

So many seriously rich people started from flat broke or in many cases from serious debt, you have to conclude that a lot of capital is not necessary.

J. K Rowling is one of the richest individuals in the UK. While she was writing her first novel she had barely the price of a good meal to sustain her. She even had to type the book out twice (with a second hand typewriter!) to send a copy to the publishers because she couldn’t afford to have a photocopy done.

Living In A Poor Environment

Many believe you need to come from a rich background to become rich. Baloney!

People have worked their way up from living in tin shacks to owning hotel chains. It is just as easy to sell goods to people in the ghetto as it is in the richest street in town.

Indeed it is often much more profitable to sell cheaper goods than more expensive goods.

Here’s a few examples-

· Burger vans have far higher profit margins than many top restaurants.
· Skateboards often have far higher profit margins than cars.
· A bicycle sales and repair shop would find far more customers in a poor environment than in a rich one.
· Trades and services (plumbers, electricians, decorators) will be more likely to succeed with the low costs of the poor environment and traveling to a better environment to provide those services.

Poor Education, No Capitol AND a Poor Environment!

A few examples of people who succeeded with their small businesses may help to prove my point.

With all three – poor education, no capitol and a poor environment, one guy in Africa has found great success. He lived on what most people reading this would consider to be a rubbish tip, but with very little education and no capitol at all, makes a great living for himself. With no more than a stout pair of ordinary scissors, he turns discarded empty drink cans into really stylish flowers. Selling them to locals and tourists, he makes a fine living.

Now I am not suggesting for a moment that this is a workable small business idea for you, but it does prove my point. If he can be so successful, by his terms, in Africa, then really it can’t be so hard for you can it?

Another example, which you are equally unlikely to repeat, is that of many ‘pop stars’. I won’t go into detail here because I prefer not to get sued, but if you look carefully at the early lives of, for example, Madonna, Eminem, Bob Dylan etc. you would find they have bettered themselves considerably with very few external resources.

Lastly, how about Nancy Engel. Starting from flat broke with very little education, she bought $30 worth of assorted spices. Mixing them together, she labeled them Italian Spice Mix and took them to a local flea market the next day. By the end of the day, she’d sold all her stock and pocketed $200. By repeating this simple formula, her small business is a great success.

What if you are fortunate enough to live in an outstanding environment, have received an excellent education and have access to seemingly limitless funds – would that ensure success? History is littered with examples of people in just this situation, who started business ventures which failed completely leaving them financially broke.

I believe you are just as likely to succeed, or fail, regardless of your environment, education or funds.

Small Businesses Idea, Plus Action

So enough of what you don’t need to succeed – what about what you do need? Almost every example shows that after an idea which the entrepreneur considered worth pursuing, action is required. It sounds obvious, but without action, all you have is an idea, and by themselves, ideas rarely make you successful!

By action I don’t mean simply telling everyone you know about your idea, I mean actually doing something to make your idea happen.

So now you see why I believe that it is quite normal for people to succeed without access to good education, good environment or good funding.

I believe you can change your life massively with no more than a few good small business ideas and a little action.